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Ethan
“I’m a target?”
I turned my head slowly at the sound of Diana’s voice. I found her standing in the doorway between the kitchen and the dining room, and she was wearing the tiniest pair of cotton pajamas I’d ever seen on a person. She clutched a cup tightly in her hand as her eyes grew wide, and I cursed underneath my breath. Her voice shook with her words, and the look of panic on her face was undeniable.
Fuck, she’d been listening to us?
“You guys have your orders. Get to work,” I said.
Then, I moved towards Diana.
I took her arm in my hand and escorted her into the next room. Out of eyesight from the guys with her skimpy little clothes and where I could freely speak with her. The guys didn’t need the distraction of her hip bones peeking over her pajama pants and her tits spilling out of the top of her tank top. The thread of possessiveness I felt towards her multiplied instantly, and I dropped her arm the second we made it to the hallway.
I couldn't touch her any longer than I absolutely needed to.
“Diana, you have nothing to worry about. The detail I have on you will protect you at all times. But hopefully, you now understand why we need you indoors as much as possible. Why you need to trust the guys to keep you safe,” I said.
“Do those letters really talk about me?” she asked.
I drew in a deep breath as tears welled in her eyes.
“Diana, it’s okay. You’re safe in your home so long as we’re here,” I said.
But it didn’t stop her from reaching out for my arm. It didn’t stop her from clutching me tightly. It didn’t stop her eyes from growing wide and it didn’t stop her from shaking as she pushed herself against me.
“I didn’t want to believe it,” she said.
Her cheek fell to my chest and I had to hold back a groan.
“I didn’t want to believe what my father was saying was true. But, you think it is. Don’t you?” she asked.
“I think it’s worth pursuing,” I said.
“There’s a crazy person out there trying to get to me.”
“Diana, I need you to listen to me.”
“Ethan, I’m scared,” she whispered.
Her grip grew tighter and her body shook faster with her fear. I wanted to wrap my arms around her. To comfort her and keep her safe. It killed something inside of me to see her like this and I cursed myself for allowing our conversation to be heard. I needed to find another room in the house to have those meetings. One where I could close a door and keep her away from all this insane nonsense while we tried sorting through it.
“Someone is sending you two threatening letters. You have to do as I say, okay?” I asked.
“I don’t feel safe, Ethan. A crazy person is out there ready to hurt my father. Ready to hurt me. Why? Why are they doing this to us?”
I couldn’t deny it any longer. I couldn’t deny her any longer. I heard the tears in her voice and the way she sniffled against my chest was too much. I slipped my arms around her and held her gently, allowing my fingers to slide through her long raven hair. It felt so soft. Silky smooth. And my fingers didn’t once catch on a knot. She curled into me, her hands fisting my shirt and drawing me closer. I felt her tits spilling into my chest. I felt her pelvis slowly pressing into mine.
Fuck. This wasn’t good.
“My men and I will keep you safe. Both you and your father. We’ve never lost someone on a mission, and we don’t intend on starting now,” I said.
“Really? You haven’t—no one’s been hurt?” she asked.
I watched her tilt her face back to meet mine and those big amber eyes came into view. The tears welled and spilled down her cheeks and it tugged at a part of my soul. I felt my groin muscles spring to life. I felt a possessiveness unlike anything I’ve ever experienced take over. I wanted to throw her over my shoulder and take her to my safe house in Virginia. I wanted the two of us to hunker down so I could keep watch. Keep her safe. I wanted to follow her everywhere she went, just so I could make sure she didn’t get hurt.
I didn’t like the reaction I had to her being in my arms.
“No one’s been killed on our watch,” I said.
“Have people been hurt?” she asked.
I bit down onto the inside of my cheek as I drew in a deep breath.
“You’re safe with us,” I said.
“I’m safe with you. I don’t feel safe with anyone else, Ethan. Stay with me. Please. Don’t leave me with someone else. Not now. Not when I know this is real. Please?”
Fuck. She begged so sweetly and her voice was light against my ear. I liked the sound of her begging. Maybe a little too much.
“I trust my men with you. Liam and Mason will be the two here tonight. I’ll be back in the morning, okay?” I asked.
She shook her head rapidly as I tried to peel her hands away from the fabric of my shirt.
“That’s not good enough. I won’t be able to sleep.”
“You’ll be fine. Liam will be right downstairs and Mason will be in the library.”
“I need someone with me. Please, Ethan. Don’t leave.”
“Diana, I promise you with everything I am—”
“Move into the house.”
I furrowed my brow as her hands quickly moved away from my chest. As quickly as the words had fallen from her lips, she backed away. Wrapped her arms around her chest. Pressed those luscious tits together and turned her back to me.
Then, her shoulders silently moved with her tears.
“Diana.”
“It’s nothing. Just go,” she said.
“You’ll be safe until I get back,” I said.
“I don’t know why I thought you’d care anyway. My father doesn’t care.”
“He does care. That’s why he hired us.”
“He cares insofar as his stupid re-election. Trust me, if it wasn’t campaign season, he’d be tossing those letters out.”
I didn’t know if her words were true. But if they were, they made me snarl. What kind of man did that to his daughter? What kind of father was Senator Logan? Because the more Diana talked about him, the more I didn’t like him.
“What do you need?” I asked.
“I need you, Ethan.”
Her words punched me in the gut. The breath of her voice. The way it lowered. The way her tears clouded her words. She was being serious. At least, part of her was. I felt my guard lowering as I contemplated what she had asked. Moving in. It was a shit idea. A terrible one. But I couldn't move past the way she had looked at me when she asked. The way she withdrew from me, like she’d been slapped across the face by my negative response.
And before I knew it, my lips were changing my own damn answer.
“Okay.”
“What?” Diana asked.
She whipped around with a shocked stare on her face as a tear rumbled down her cheek. My hand came up and wiped it away, reveling at the electricity that surged the second my skin connected with hers.
“I’ll move into the residence if it will make you feel safer. I’ll stay tonight, then tomorrow I’ll discuss making it permanent with your father,” I said.
A smile unlike any other beamed across her cheeks and she threw her arms around me. I allowed one of my arms to come up and hug her, and it took every ounce of energy I had to restrain myself. To not hold her any closer than I already was. To keep my cock at bay as it threatened to pulse to life. She released me from her grasp before she walked down the hallway, her hips swaying deeper than I thought possible for a way. She turned her way up the stairs and peeked over the edge, throwing me a thankful glance with those doe-eyed amber orbs that I apparently was weakening to.
The fuck just happened? My brain felt like scrambled eggs. One look with those eyes of hers and I had instantly caved. One shudder in her scared state and I had instantly rose to be her protector. How the hell did she have this kind of power over me? After I had ignored women for over a decade, how was I so easily manipulated by this one?
This was dangerous. She was dangerous. And I was walking right in to dangerous territory. I had just agreed to talk to her father about moving my ass in and being around her manipulative grasp twenty-four-seven. I had to focus on the job, now more than ever. I had to focus on keeping her safe. Because the truth was, the more we dug, the more this threat became plausible.
And the more I felt the need to keep her at my side.
